alice cooper

Shock rock pioneer Alice Cooper is heading Down Under with a new show, Theatre of Death. I’ve caught the Coop a couple of times in concert and he has never failed to entertain, even without his trademark stage show featuring a guillotine, and a Britney doll just plump for the skewering. I was impressed when he played a Gold Coast stadium one Easter the night following a Kiss concert: there was hardly anyone there, more’s the pity, but it didn’t faze him. He played his heart out.

The latest album, 2008’s Along Came A Spider, was superb, mixing vintage rock and metal in characteristic Alice style as he unveils the life of a serial killer.

I made a brief foray into the shopping centre on the way home from work today and hark! no carols. Tis now the ringing of cash registers that enlivens the corridors and aisles, although there wasn’t much of that going on either. I must’ve missed the rush :)

I’m not much a one for carols, especially when they are played in November, but I did find an album that got a few listens in the lead-up to Xmas Day: We Wish You a Merry Xmas. (Armoury/Riot)

This little beauty has 14 carols on it, all given varying degrees of metal treatment from some experts in the field.

There are some dull tunes, too, but the album ends on a high: O’ Christmas Tree by Doro Pesch and Auld Lang Syne sounding live and raw and slightly drunken thanks to Girlschool. Just the way Christmas should be!